In February, the Australian Army announced a €1.5 million pilot project with Charles Darwin University’s Advanced Manufacturing Alliance (AMA) and 3D printer manufacturer SPEE3D to test the military use of 3D printers – now the devices have successfully undergone a demanding field test.
The 12-month pilot program includes training soldiers in 3D printing on the LightSPEE3D metal printer at the Casuarina campus and testing the large-format WarpSPEE3D 3D metal printer in remote locations in the Northern Territory. There, the machine has now been put to use by soldiers from the 1st Combat Service Support Battalion at the Mount Bundey field training area, 120 kilometers southeast of Darwin. “The aim of the exercise was to test the transportation, set-up and operation of the equipment in the field,” says AMA engineer Matthew Harbidge, who was very pleased with the test: “We were able to get the printer up and running and ready to print within about 30 minutes.”
Lieutenant Colonel Kane Wright from the 1st Combat Service Support Battalion also expressed his satisfaction: “The ability to print repair parts in such an environment has significant potential and can be crucial in helping to repair damaged equipment on site, independently of our supply chains.” The tests showed that the printers can also build metal parts made of copper or aluminum up to 40 kilograms at a speed of 100 grams per minute, even in the field.
Byron Kennedy, CEO of SPEE3D: “We have a similar project in parallel with the Royal Australian Navy, which was announced in November last year, and both projects will enhance the sovereignty of the armed forces and make them world leaders in additive manufacturing.”
